Battlebots Contender Wrecks Robotics at the Faire

By sabrina, Sep 25, 2015

Some robots build, others serve or assist, and some, like Wrecks the heavyweight Battlebot, destroy.

Battlebots are hardware gladiators. They have their own TV show that recently was revived on ABC, and Wrecks is among the biggest of these competing this year. The heavyweight category, which initially included entrants from 120 to 220 pounds, last year accepted 250-pound competitors like Wrecks. Operated by remote control, the armed and armored machines fight in an arena designed for single-elimination combat.

Wrecks’ spinning steel disc provides it with both an effective weapon and a means of propulsion. But the wheel never touches the ground, instead propelling it forward through gyroscopic procession. By tilting the spinning blade, Wrecks rocks back and forth, scooting ahead on its large rear foot. As a “walkerbot” without wheels, Wrecks would have been granted a weight bonus according to early Battlebot rules, but that provision was removed by the time Wrecks entered competition, matching this against other heavy ‘bots.

Inspiration for Wrecks came to designer Dan Chatterton after watching an antweight robot named Gyrobot. He joins other Team Wrecks members Joe Sena, James Arluck, Orion Beach, and Adrian “Bunny” Dorsey, along with team captain Micah “Chewy” Leibowitz. Micah once turned a dog-house into a robot.